John DeShazier: Hollis Thomas is the man in charge

JACKSON, MISS. -- Hollis Thomas couldn't laugh and joke his way out of this one.

He didn't even bother trying, because Thomas is smart, smart and good enough to have played 154 games and posted 121 starts in 11 seasons on the field, smart and rational enough to know that hilarious and overweight aren't a combination that'll keep an NFL career going.

So the Saints' defensive tackle and locker room comedian -- and he routinely produces good material -- got serious about his weight. He probably dropped 30 to 40 pounds, which, if it didn't get him to his listed weight of 335, at least put him within sniffing distance of it.

"I just lost a substantial amount of weight," Thomas said. "I'm not going to say anything (about how much weight). A gentleman doesn't disclose. A gentleman doesn't kiss and tell. I look slightly better. Just a little bit better."

No.

A lot better.

A wwwwwhhhhhole lot better.

True, Thomas still isn't going to fit anyone's definition of svelte. That much poundage doesn't naturally spread evenly and neatly over a height of 6 feet.

But the quips about him being about as round as he was tall (media guys poke a little fun, too) won't be applicable this year. The wisecracks about the acreage he occupies when he gets in his stance will slow. The snickered murmurs about his lack of stamina could dry up, too.

Outside of missing the Monday evening and Tuesday morning practices because of a Baker's cyst behind his right knee, which caused him to have fluid drained, Thomas has been in his place, working with the first-team defense, preparing for his role as run-stopper and lineman-occupier.

"I feel a significant amount of difference in my endurance and my ability to be out there more and run," he said. "And obviously, without the weight comes quickness. I take all that seriously. Last year, I kind of fell off the horse -- and they threw me back on. I'm trying to stay on it now."

The biggest step, obviously, was admitting he could use a little help.

Genius wasn't required to know that the coaching staff wasn't pleased with Thomas' propensity to retain water. The team knew it was getting a big man when it traded with the Philadelphia Eagles for Thomas in 2006, but the jester got to be too much man.

The time he spent trying to get in shape was time not spent getting better, and it resulted in plays the defense spent at a disadvantage, because a defense can't be at its best when one of its best players isn't on the field being a disrupter.

The Saints suggested Thomas visit the weight-loss clinic at Duke. Teammate Charles Grant joined Thomas there, the two of them working together to drop pounds.

"It was a collective thing," Thomas said. "It wasn't anything they pushed me to do. They asked me if I wanted to do something, and I said, 'Yes.' They explained it to me, gave me all the ins and outs of the whole ordeal, and it was up to me. I decided to do it.

"I know I had to get on the ball if I wanted to continue doing something that I enjoy doing. There are consequences to getting too heavy. You're labeled as, 'You can't do it anymore, you lost a step,' and you just don't want to be labeled like that."

The labels that fit now are "smaller," "healthier" and "better."

True, the Saints' improved depth at defensive tackle should reduce some of the need for Thomas to play more snaps, especially if newly-signed, first-round pick Sedrick Ellis shines. But it has to be good to know that it appears Thomas can play more snaps if he has to. After a 50-tackle, three-sack season in 2007, he could be ready to do more, to be more.

"It was just a lifestyle change," he said. "It was smart eating and stuff. That was the key. Dieting is not deprivation. It's just a change of lifestyle and a change of eating habits.

"Pizza, cheeseburgers -- you know. Everything that looks good is not good for you. It was off the list. Once you get into it, you get used to seeing everybody else eating, and you going about your business, eating what you're supposed to."

Then, the big guy smiled and jabbed the media a couple of times. Just as funny, but giving his foils a little less to laugh about.

John DeShazier can be reached at jdeshazier@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3410.